Notre Dame Football

Jaiden Ausberry Becoming a Weapon for Notre Dame

By Matt Freeman

August 14, 2024

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Notre Dame linebacker Jaiden Ausberry recorded three tackles in five games as a freshman in 2023.

The numbers certainly don’t scream impact player in 2024, but stats on paper don’t tell the story of Ausberry’s big offseason.

Notre Dame’s staff has seen significant growth in the Louisiana native over the last eight months and Ausberry has become a weapon for Al Golden. In fact, Golden will likely line up the sophomore at multiple positions this fall as he’s practices at linebacker, nickel and then a box safety type of role at times.

Golden has typically avoided in-depth analysis of individual players, but he had no issue explaining how valuable Ausberry could be for the Irish defense this fall.

“He can,” Golden stated when asked if Ausberry could have a different role each week based on the opponent. “He’s athletic. He’s really smart and it means a lot to him. He’s gotten so much better. He’s in the 220s now. He’s just versatile. He can blitz, cover a back and cover a tight end. We saw him cover in space in the spring when we needed him to.

“There’s a lot of different jobs that he’s identifying for himself, which is great. We’re trying to get that from everybody at this stage.”

It’s not a secret that Golden’s defense isn’t easy to learn as it has NFL terminology and there are multiple levels to each play. Quite frankly, the defense is challenging to learn, so Ausberry being able to master multiple positions speaks volumes for his football IQ, but also how much he simply loves the game.

It’s a lot for a second-year player, yet Ausberry knows the work he puts in now will benefit him later on.

“I think his NFL-style defense and it’s going to help us at the next level in terms of language and the way you have to vocalize on the field,” said Ausberry. “He does a great job of putting not just the linebackers, but also edge rushers, safeties and corners in different positions to really move us around and disguise us.”

In the spring, Ausberry got work in the nickel, which isn’t too different than his rover role, but there are some differences. Ausberry had success and it presents an intriguing option depending on the opponent.

“They just told me that they wanted to align me there a little bit because they had seen that I’m really good covering receivers and running backs,” Ausberry said. “That was something they came to me with. I thought it was a pretty good idea considering my versatility.”

As for the present, Ausberry is working at mainly linebacker, but that can change in a hurry as Notre Dame will end camp this week and turn its focus to Texas A&M.

“I’ve been mainly at linebacker,” Ausberry explained. “I’ve been working at the Aztec position and some of the third-down packages. I really have been back in the box mostly. I’ve still been covering wide receivers a little bit but it’s been more linebacker work in the box.”

Ausberry also expected to be in this position as it was part of Golden’s pitch to him during the recruiting process, which also helped him embrace the extra work to master his roles.

“When he recruited me, he told me about it,” stated Ausberry. “We would watch a lot of NFL film and it would be the same defense we’re running now. I think that that’s a really good picture for recruits because when you get to the NFL, you already know all the words, the diction, all that stuff.”

The 6-foot-2, 216-pounder also has done his part on the recruiting trail by telling recruits how Golden’s system has benefited him and other players on the defense.

And while he didn’t say who, it wouldn’t be a stretch to think one of those players is 2026 safety Blaine Bradford‍, as the two are cousins and the five-star safety has the Irish in his top five.

“I let them know like, ‘If you come here, you’re going to really know an NFL-style defense and once you get to the NFL, you’ll know the words, the language, how to speak it,” explained Ausberry. “Then when you go into the combine, you’re going to knock it out because you’ll know what to say, how to point out all the defenses in NFL terms because the defense we have now it literally right from the NFL.”

Texas A&M is just weeks away and Ausberry is starting to feel that excitement knowing he’ll have a role in one of the premier games of the season.

“It’s definitely going to be more of a sense of urgency and more of a sense of being locked in and knowing that I’m possibly, probably going to play a lot more than last year, considering I’ve already redshirted,” said Ausberry. “It’s not like there’s a limit on how much I can play. I’ll be ready every game, so it’s definitely going to be more of a tunnel vision the night before the game.”